I rang up this publisher and they asked me what I was doing at the time. I told them I was a house-painter, so first of all they had me come round and paint the place. Only later did they consider my work and Banished Misfortune was published.
It is a costly thing living here to fight the erosion. The sea is constantly threatening to cut into the coastline and sweep all this away. Every year we have to haul stones up here to repair the damage and plug the holes. It's a full-time job.
taught me a lot about the normal and the abnormal, and the distance between them. [...] He's out there by himself. You get the jump in the feet when you read certain passages by him. That's the mark of truly great writing. It gives you the jump in the feet.
The Bible has entered much of my work as have Latin and Greek mythology and verse.
I often find poems hand written in old abandoned notebooks.
I'm always fascinated by etymology.
I know writing is what I do but I still don't see myself as one.
There isn't any distinction between a reader and a writer – reading is so much a part of it.
Without the reader there would be no writer.
I'm no good at dinner parties. I feel very uneasy at them.
I like the idea of stopping mid-sentence, like Graham Greene.
Truth is the lie you once told returning to haunt you